Many Texans today are struggling to afford the cost of gas, groceries, and rent. Unfortunately, they might also have to add the cost of government to that list too, if some cities, like Houston, get their way.
As reported in the Dallas Express on Friday:
If the city maintains the current rate of .51 cents per $100 it would have to cut $86 million out of its recently passed 2025 budget. If they approve the second option, a 1.7-cent increase, they would have to cut $40 million in expenses. The third option, a 3.2-cent increase, would generate $40 million, the exact cost of the two disasters; while option four, a 4.5-cent increase, would generate $73 million, enough for the disaster and an additional $37 million for other expenses; and the final option, 6.2-cents, would generate $119 million, $79 million above the cost of the disaster.
The third option, which would generate just enough to allow for the costs of the disasters—the 3.2-cent increase—would mean a $166 property tax increase for the average homeowner. [emphasis mine]
Why any Houston official would entertain a substantial tax increase like this is difficult to understand. After all, the U.S. economy could be headed for something “worse than a recession,” Texas’ economic growth has begun to “moderate,” and Houston-area residents are dealing with “record” rent and rampant “food insecurity” thanks to Bidenomics.
Instead of raising taxes and making the cost-of-living crisis worse for everyone, Houstonians would be better served if city officials cut spending, consolidated departments and positions, “rightsized payroll costs,” and voluntarily subjected its entire operation to a third-party efficiency audit with the goal weeding out waste, fraud, and abuse. By easing the burden of spending, the burden of raising so much revenue through tax hikes abates.
All of which is to say, hurting Houstonians today need less government, not higher taxes.